The “Bowman Proposal”: White Knight or Force of Darkness?

During the coming week, and especially during Tuesday’s Senate hearing, we will likley hear a lot about the “Bowman proposal.” This will be a reference to an ingenious Blakely-fix that Professor Frank Bowman suggested in a memo sent to the US Sentencing Commission three days after Blakely was decided. The essence of the proposal is a legislative fix to essentially take the top off the existing guideline ranges — i.e. “amend the sentencing ranges on the Chapter 5 Sentencing Table to increase the top of each guideline range to the statutory maximum of the offense(s) of conviction.” The idea is that then guideline calculations technically become adjustments to only minimums and have no impact on applicable maximums. The current buzz is that this fix is the leading candidate for congressional action in response to Blakely.

Professor Bowman’s memo in support of this approach is brilliant and a required read for anyone thinking about what should happen now. Here is a copy of Frank’s original memo to the USSC (which I know has already been widely circulated):
Download frank_bowman_original_memo_to_ussc_on_blakely.doc

Frank has asked me to highlight that his original proposal and thoughts have evolved a bit since this original memo was sent. He wanted me to stress that “the version now receiving most consideration would (a) be sunsetted, and (b) include a right of appellate review on an abuse of discretion standard for any sentence above the guideline minimum, and that one consideration in the abuse of discretion determination would be whether the sentence was 6 months or 25% greater than the minimum.” Frank may have a final “new and improved version” of his legislative proposal for me to post in the next few days.

This proposal has engendered diverse reactions and diverse predictions about what would happen if it became law. It has emerged as a compromise, short-term solution that might or might not be a great way for Congress to start dealing with Blakely, but likely has the most chance of any suggested proposals. With this memo now in hand, I will leave you to decide for yourself whether the Bowman proposal should be championed as a white knight or a force of darkness in the post-Blakely world.